News

Dyan Elliott Named to Endowed History Professorship

EVANSTON, Ill. --- Dyan Elliott has been named the John Evans Professor of History at Northwestern University.

Prior to joining the Northwestern faculty in 2006, Elliott was on the faculty at Indiana University from 1988 to 2005. In 2004 she was named the Ruth N. Halls Professor of History. She moved to Vanderbilt University in the fall of 2005 as the Distinguished Professor of History.

Elliott is regarded as one of the principal scholars in the field of medieval history. Her research concentration is on the importance of gender within a predominately religious culture.

She has published three books: “Proving Women: Female Mysticism and the Inquisitional Practices in Late Medieval Europe” (2004); “Fallen Bodies: Pollution, Sexuality, and Demonology in the Middle Ages” (1999); and “Spiritual Marriage: Sexual Abstinence in Medieval Wedlock” (1995).

Currently Elliott is working on two book-length projects, “The Impression of Marriage: A Template for the Medieval World” and “A Hole in the Heavens: Orthodox Dualism and the Crisis of the Late Medieval World.”

She is author of numerous articles on the themes of gender, spirituality and sexuality and their interactions.

Recognized for her accomplishments in the field, Elliott's awards include fellowships from the American Council of Learned Societies, Princeton's Institute for Advanced Study, the National Humanities Center and the Rockefeller Foundation's Center in Bellagio, Italy.

In 2006 her book “Proving Women” was awarded the Otto Gründler Prize as an outstanding contribution to the field of medieval studies.

Elliott has served as adviser to the Medieval Academy of America since 2004.